Consumer-configurable alternative advertising reception with incentives

ABSTRACT

An original advertisement is transformed at a first content viewing device into a transferrable incentivized deferred advertisement that itself includes as added encoded data elements a configured incentive, a configured incentive time period within which to obtain the configured incentive, and a reporting instruction that causes an alternative content viewing device to report advertisement viewing back to the first content viewing device. The transferrable incentivized deferred advertisement, that includes the added encoded data elements, is transferred to the alternative content viewing device.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to consumer advertising. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to consumer-configurablealternative advertising reception with incentives.

Consumers are presented with advertising/commercials during and inbetween television and radio programming by advertisers. The advertisersutilize the advertising to increase sales of their respective productsand services to the consumers. Advertising delivery models have remainedrelatively consistent for decades in association with television, radio,and other advertising media.

BRIEF SUMMARY

A method includes, by a processor: transforming, at a first contentviewing device, an original advertisement into a transferrableincentivized deferred advertisement that itself includes, as addedencoded data elements, (i) a configured incentive, (ii) a configuredincentive time period within which to obtain the configured incentive,and (iii) a reporting instruction that causes an alternative contentviewing device to report advertisement viewing back to the first contentviewing device; and transferring the transferrable incentivized deferredadvertisement, that includes the added encoded data elements, to thealternative content viewing device.

A system includes a communication module; and a processor programmed to:transform, at a first content viewing device, an original advertisementinto a transferrable incentivized deferred advertisement that itselfincludes, as added encoded data elements, (i) a configured incentive,(ii) a configured incentive time period within which to obtain theconfigured incentive, and (iii) a reporting instruction that causes analternative content viewing device to report advertisement viewing backto the first content viewing device; and transfer, via the communicationmodule, the transferrable incentivized deferred advertisement, thatincludes the added encoded data elements, to the alternative contentviewing device.

A computer program product includes a computer readable storage mediumhaving computer readable program code embodied therewith, where thecomputer readable program code when executed on a computer causes thecomputer to: transform, at a first content viewing device, an originaladvertisement into a transferrable incentivized deferred advertisementthat itself includes, as added encoded data elements, (i) a configuredincentive, (ii) a configured incentive time period within which toobtain the configured incentive, and (iii) a reporting instruction thatcauses an alternative content viewing device to report advertisementviewing back to the first content viewing device; and transfer thetransferrable incentivized deferred advertisement, that includes theadded encoded data elements, to the alternative content viewing device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example of an implementation of a systemfor consumer-configurable alternative advertising reception withincentives according to an embodiment of the present subject matter;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example of an implementation of a coreprocessing module capable of performing consumer-configurablealternative advertising reception with incentives according to anembodiment of the present subject matter;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of an example of an implementation of a processfor consumer-configurable alternative advertising reception withincentives according to an embodiment of the present subject matter;

FIG. 4A is a flow chart of an example of an implementation of initialprocessing within a process for consumer-configurable alternativeadvertising reception with incentives, including depleting discountincentives and advertising appreciation discounts according to anembodiment of the present subject matter; and

FIG. 4B is a flow chart of an example of an implementation of additionalprocessing within a process for consumer-configurable alternativeadvertising reception with incentives, including depleting discountincentives and advertising appreciation discounts according to anembodiment of the present subject matter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The examples set forth below represent the necessary information toenable those skilled in the art to practice the invention and illustratethe best mode of practicing the invention. Upon reading the followingdescription in light of the accompanying drawing figures, those skilledin the art will understand the concepts of the invention and willrecognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressedherein. It should be understood that these concepts and applicationsfall within the scope of the disclosure and the accompanying claims.

The subject matter described herein provides consumer-configurablealternative advertising reception with incentives. This presenttechnology provides bi-directional coupling of social networks andtelevision advertising technology (or other advertising technologies)with advertising points accumulation, and provides several alternativeadvertising delivery/receipt transfer options for consumers of either“on-demand” advertising (e.g., digital video recorder (DVR) or web-basedadvertisements) or live broadcast advertising. Users of socialmedia/networks may post comments regarding products or services tosocial networks and receive advertising points, and may opt to transferonline advertising to a television for concurrent or later viewing.Similarly, television advertisements may be selected based upon aconsumer's (e.g., television viewer's) online activities, and users mayopt to transfer television advertising to an online viewing forum forconcurrent or later viewing. As such, the present technology providesuser/viewer flexibility that may increase both user viewing ofadvertising and user motivation to assist advertisers with advertisingefforts.

Regarding online activities associated with advertising, a socialnetwork user may indicate a “like” feature within the social network foran advertisement, and may receive a discount coupon.Companies/restaurants may reserve sending additional coupons until othersocial network users also indicate the “like” feature for the same orsimilar advertisement. As such, where social network contacts (e.g.,friends) determine that another social network user has indicated the“like” feature or similar feature for an advertised product or service,the advertised product or service may become viral in nature within thesocial network as other social network users like the product or serviceto obtain a coupon.

This form of processing may be performed either via a computing deviceor by interaction with a social network via a television or otherinterface. For example, where a television viewer sees a televisionadvertisement that they like, they may propagate that “like” from thetelevision as a posting onto the respective social network to alsoobtain advertising points and/or coupons, and to initiate viraladvertising of the advertised products or services that the viewerlikes.

Additionally, where an advertising entity has a target configured numberof viewings per consumer, and a particular consumer has accumulatedenough advertising points either by direct viewing or viral distributionof additional viewings by social network contacts, the user may have theparticular advertisement skipped or may opt for different/alternativeadvertising.

Users may accumulate advertising points by interacting withadvertisements and may lose advertising points by fast forwarding. Forexample, with respect to advertising point accumulation, a user “liking”a website associated with an advertisement may increase advertisingpoints. Advertising points may be redeemed as discounts/coupons forproducts or services shown in the associated advertisements.

Conversely, regarding losing advertising points by fast forwarding, thepresent technology also provides “depleting discount advertisement,”that is based upon how a viewer is interacting with an advertisement.The depleting discount advertisement incentivizes viewers to watch anadvertisement in its entirety. Advertisements may have a header (e.g.,one inch) at the top that shows the advertiser/company name and adiscount value associated with an offered product or service name. Eachtime the user fast forwards through the advertisement, the discount“depletes” to incentivize the user to watch the advertisement soonerrather than later. Further, if the user fast forwards at twice theviewing rate (e.g., two times (2×) speed viewing) then the discount maybe stated as fifteen percent (15%) off the offered product or service.If the user presses the fast-forward selection again to increase theviewing rate (e.g., to four times (4×) speed viewing), then the discountmay be decreased to five percent (5%) off the offered product orservice. To further the present example, if the user again increasesfast-forwarding of an advertisement (e.g., to eight times (8×) viewingspeed), then the user may be provided with no (e.g., zero) discount onthe respective advertised product or service. Using this form of adepleting incentive model, where the viewer watches the advertisement inreal time or at a reduced fast-forward speed, the user may be providedwith a range of discounts/incentives from a maximum configured discountto the least configured discount, respectively.

Advertisement overlays may also be used to preserve advertisementincorporation into the viewer's experience in combination with time andformat differential transfer. As such, where a user of recorded contentfast-forwards through an advertisement, the respective advertisement maybe displayed as a content overlay during portions of the regularrecorded programming. This form of time and format differential transferof advertising may be provided by advertisers and the viewer's computingdevice or television may retrieve that alternative format for theadvertisement in response to detecting the fast-forward operationthrough the advertisement.

As another incentive alternative, a viewer may be presented with anopportunity to watch a brief infomercial (e.g., information commercial)and/or take a quiz about an advertised product or service to receive adiscount (e.g., a free box of detergent). If the viewer opts out of theincentive opportunity, the viewer may be presented with a normaladvertisement with no discount. As such, viewers may be incentivized totry new products or to learn more about products they already like.

An additional incentive option that incentivizes viewers not to deferadvertisement viewing may be provided by increasing an advertisementplay time for each deferral by a particular individual. As such, where aviewer of an advertisement may initially be presented with a thirty (30)second advertisement, the length of view time of the respectiveadvertisement may be increased by thirty (30) seconds for each deferral.As such, total advertisement viewing may be preserved within the contextof the technology described herein for deferral and transfer ofadvertising by use of a variety of incentives.

Viewers may also opt to have an advertisement distributed/interspersedthroughout a program rather than viewing an advertisement in a sequencefrom beginning to end. Within this context, advertisements may be madeinteractive and quizzes (as described above), may be interspersedthroughout a program to ensure advertising incorporation into theviewer's experience.

Further regarding alternative advertising delivery/receipt and transferoptions, a television viewer or Internet user may choose a preferredmeans/medium for receiving and watching advertisements. The consumersmay additionally/alternatively choose a preferred alternative time,format, and/or content associated with advertising delivery and receiptby the consumer. The alternative advertising technology described hereinallows the consumer to configure advertising consumption to transfer afull commercial from a television to a mobile device for immediate ordelayed viewing or interaction. As another alternative advertisingtechnology, a consumer may specify an overlay audio and/or video messageformat to be played as advertisements are being fast-forwarded or mayspecify an advertising banner overlay format to be displayed within someportion of the screen during normal viewing rather than being requiredto delay their preferred content viewing during timeslots occupied byadvertising. The consumer may alternatively specify real-timesubstitution of video (or audio, audio/video) clips based on consumerbehavior and preferences, as well as consumer interaction with othernearby electronic devices. The present technology is applicable tocontrol of advertisement delivery/receipt as they are broadcast in realtime or in association with advertisements that are incorporated intorecorded audio/video content.

As such, the present technology allows a consumer to specify preferredadvertising delivery methods/mediums, and ensures that advertisers'messages are displayed consistently with these consumer preferences. Byproviding consumer configurability of advertising reception, the presenttechnology helps to preserve the viability of an advertising model,while providing both convenience for the consumer and more viewing ofadvertisements for the advertiser.

To implement the present technology granularly on a per consumer basis,consumers may register, in advance, his or her preferences and devicesfor receipt of and transfer of advertising, as described in more detailbelow. The registration of user preferences and devices may be performedvia preference entry to a set-top box (STB), through a web interface, orvia other data entry procedures as appropriate for a givenimplementation, again as described in more detail below.

Further, advertising distribution agreements may be made betweenentities, such as network broadcasters and websites that preface contentwith advertising videos. In such a situation, if a website user choosesto skip an advertisement video and defers that advertisement for laterviewing on a television during a configured commercial advertisementtimeslot, the advertisement that was skipped may be presented in lieu ofother advertising to the user during that configured commercialadvertisement timeslot. As such, advertisement viewings may beincreased, and advertising proceeds may be partitioned between therespective network broadcasters and websites based upon factorsconfigured by their respective agreements.

Advertising viewer (user) preferences and device configurations may beutilized to implement the present technology. As such, the processingdescribed herein may initially check user/viewer preferences and deviceconfiguration options to determine how the viewer generally prefers toreceive advertising. The viewer preferences may be stated in absoluteterms (e.g., “always process advertising by . . . ”) or the viewerpreferences may have a conditional component. Several conditionaloptions are possible. The following set of conditional options form afoundation upon which other conditional options may be implemented: “ifmotion is detected in the room, then process advertising by . . . ,” or“if ambient sounds in the room exceed a threshold volume level, thenprocess advertising by . . . ,” or, “during times of day of X, processadvertising by . . . ,” or “during a broadcast of type Y, processadvertising by . . . ,” or “for this type of advertisement, processadvertising by . . . .” Many other conditional options for viewingpreferences may be configured and all such conditional options areconsidered within the scope of the present technology.

User preferences may also correspond to an individual user or to a groupof users (e.g., for a single family member within a household, or for anentire family). The user preferences may be stored locally (e.g., onnonvolatile memory in a set-top box (STB)), or remotely (e.g., in aremote database accessible via the Internet). The user preferences maybe checked at various intervals, including at power-on, periodically(e.g., once a day, once an hour, etc.), or upon the commencement of anyadvertisement. Furthermore, user preferences may change based on otherfactors. In such cases, factors such as these may be utilized to selectthe respective conditional branch for user preference processing.

The user may optionally be offered an interactive choice when anadvertisement is to be presented. In such an implementation, rather thandefaulting to store user advertising preferences, the user may beoffered a choice of advertising presentation options. The user mayselect whether to override the stored user advertising preferences withother options (e.g., watching the advertisement through an alternativedevice versus the stored preference to fast-forward with anadvertisement overlay).

A brief window of time (e.g., one second) may be offered before theadvertising delivery is accomplished in the selected manner. If the usertakes action, such as by responsively selecting an alternativeadvertising option on a remote control or other device, an override maybe offered and delivery of the advertisement may be accomplished throughthe selected alternative method.

Execution of the advertising delivery through the selected mechanism maybe implemented by a variety of advertising mechanisms. For example,advertisement display options may include a traditional commercialformat. Alternatively, transfer of a full advertisement from atelevision to a mobile device for immediate or delayed viewing (or viceversa) may be configured.

As another alternative, during a television program, transfer of a fulladvertisement from a television to a mobile device for immediate ordelayed viewing may be performed in association with checking a web feedrelated to the television program and/or comments of other users aboutthe television program. This option offers opportunities to furtherintegrate television and mobile devices within the advertising realm.

Transference of advertisements (advertising content) utilizes severalelements of the present technology. As a first technological aspect, adevice and user preferences may be registered, as described above, toassociate the device with a user and to specify transfer preferences foradvertisements. As such, via this registration and registered userpreferences, if a user elects to skip an advertisement on one device,the advertisement may be sent to an alternative configured user deviceby default. Note that some implementations may include a point-to-pointtransference operation (e.g., Bluetooth®) where the receiving device iswithin the applicable range of the transmitting device. Devices mayfurther be registered using a media access control (MAC) address orother unique identifier to permit system location determination, and toallow subsequent/deferred transmission of advertisements to a devicewhenever the respective device comes onto the respective network forwhich the device is registered to receive advertisements.

As a second technological aspect, transference processing may beperformed when the registered mobile device is detected on the networkand the advertising content may be “pushed” to the mobile device. Themanagement of this operation may occur at several levels. For example, alocal set-top box (STB), digital video recorder (DVR), or other viewingdevice may manage this push over the Internet or a local intranet (e.g.,home) network to ensure that the advertisement is sent to the respectiveuser's mobile device.

Additionally or alternatively, the advertiser (e.g., content provider)may manage this push operation. In this situation, either a televisionprogramming provider (e.g., cable company) or a web-based provider mayreceive direct real-time feedback that the advertisement has been placedon the respective user's mobile device. An integrator service may beutilized to manage this advertisement distribution/transfer activity.Such a service may be offered, for instance, by a device or otherservice provider so that the user does not have to configure separateregistrations with different advertising content providers.

As a third technological aspect, advertisement playback may beaccomplished in a variety of different manners. The advertising contentmay be buffered, for example, on the mobile device and the user may beprovided with the advertising content at some configured time (e.g.,when the mobile device is accessed by the user). Alternatively, the usermay be provided with the advertising content over some period of time,such that the user has flexibility on when to schedule the viewing oversome window of time (e.g., a day, week, etc.).

As one example of the advertising transfer and deferral activity, wherea user chooses to skip a thirty (30) second insurance commercial whilewatching an online movie, by use of the user's determined userpreferences and device registration(s), certain processing may begin.For purposes of the present example, it is assumed that certainadvertising points/incentives may be provided to the user for viewingthe advertisement. Initially, monitoring logic (e.g., provided by awebsite server in this example) may detect that the user of a desktopcomputing device is attempting to skip the advertisement, and maydetermine, using database/registration look-up of the user'sconfiguration and preferences, that the user is authorized to performthe advertisement skipping and that the user preferences indicate thatthe advertising content is to be deferred to the user's registeredmobile device for later viewing. The monitoring logic may determine thatthe user's mobile device is a tablet computing device with certainlogical (e.g., network) identifiers, and may further determine whetherthe user's tablet computing device is presently connected via anaccessible network. If the tablet computing device is presentlyconnected via an accessible network, the content may be downloaded andcached on the tablet computing device. If the tablet computing device isnot presently connected via an accessible network, when the tabletcomputing device becomes connected to the network at a later time, thecontent may then be downloaded and cached on the tablet computingdevice. When the user opens the tablet computing device, the user seesthat a new advertisement (the previously-deferred and transferredadvertisement) is available to watch, and that the advertisement isconfigured to be watched within a prescribed window of time to obtainthe respective advertising points for viewing the advertisement. Theuser may then, at the user's convenience, work with the tablet computingdevice for some period of time, then allow the advertisement to play atan opportune time that is convenient for the user, which allows the userto receive the advertising incentive(s) offered in association withviewing the advertisement.

Interactive advertising may also be configured for use in associationwith a mobile device for immediate or delayed interaction withadvertising content. Other alternative methods may allow substitution ofa television advertisement with alternative advertising content (e.g.,view a banner advertisement or interactive commercial instead of theoriginal television advertisement) to be displayed on the mobile device.Such advertisements may be configured as banners shown for some periodof time and may be shown in the place/location of a background displayon the mobile device. Alternatively, advertisements may be overlaid ontoweb content, or otherwise shown on the mobile device. Further, someoptions may be interactive (e.g., obtain user inputs to confirm viewing)to ensure that the user has viewed the respective advertisement orotherwise participated as desired by the advertiser.

The following is an example of an interactive advertisement presented ona mobile device. For example, on a tablet computing device, ten (10)icons may be rendered with company logos and a tag-line associated withone or more of the icons. The user may, for example, select the iconsrepresenting the respective companies to fulfill the advertisementopportunity. Again, similar to the previous examples, registration,detection, content push, and fulfillment may be accomplished in asimilar manner. Alternatively, the user may play a short game on thetablet computing device that relates to the product being advertised toachieve the advertising goal, and as such, achieve advertising pointsfor the advertising interaction.

Additionally or alternatively, advertisements may be optimized basedupon speed of a detected fast-forward action by a user associated withan advertisement. An overlay audio and/or video message may be generatedto play as commercials are being fast-forwarded.

Televisions, control boxes (e.g., STBs), traditional computers, and/ormobile devices displaying video may detect that an advertisement isbeing fast forwarded (or is likely to be fast forwarded) by a user. Therespective device may then show a version of the commercial that isoptimized for the speed at which it is being fast-forwarded. Methods todetect fast forwarding may include detecting a selection of a one time(1×) speed increase, a two times (2×) speed increase, a four times (4×)speed increase, an eight times (8×) speed increase, or otherfast-forwarding selection by a user. Fast forwarded advertisements maybe configured for such situations that convey information withincreasing content/idea communication density for enhanced utilizationof the respective decreases in available time of the advertisement thatis being fast forwarded. For example, a video clip recorded in slowmotion that is being synchronized to a one time (1×) speed increase maybe played so that, in the one time (1×) speed increase, the slow-motionvideo clip appears to the user as a normal speed advertisement ofshorter duration (equivalent and synchronized to the new adjusted lengthof time for the fast-forwarded advertisement). Similarly, if any levelof fast forwarding speed increase has been detected and such a rate ofvideo advancement relative to the length of the original advertisementis too short to effectively show the video clip, an advertiser's logo orother representation of the advertisement may be displayed to capturethe advertising opportunity to the extent possible during the reducedtimeslot of the advertisement that is being fast-forwarded.

As a further example, multiple advertisements may be configured foradvanced-speed rendering, such as one advertisement optimized for thetwo times (2×) speed increase viewing that may be displayed in fifteen(15) seconds. Another advertisement optimized for four times (4×) speedincrease viewing may be displaying in seven and a half (7.5) seconds.Another advertisement optimized for eight times (8×) speed increaseviewing may be displayed in three and three fourths (3.75) seconds.Other speed increase-based optimizations are possible and all suchoptimizations are considered within the scope of the present technology.

Advertisements that are optimized based upon the speed of a detectedfast-forward action as described above may be transmitted and receivedin the form of audio and/or video tracks designed particularly for therespective timeslots available relative to the respective fast-forwardspeeds. Such tracks may be broadcast in real time along with the primarycontent, may be previously stored/cached on the local system forinvocation in such circumstances, or may be pulled by the renderingdevice from an Internet source (e.g., the advertiser's website) ondemand.

Such tracks may be optimized for playback at high speeds in afull-screen manner, or may be shown in a separate window (e.g., apicture-in-picture format). In the former case of the full-screenplayback, the playback unit may detect the advanced speed, and play theselected advertisement that is optimized for that speed, as describedabove. When fast-forwarding is detected, the appropriately optimizedadvertisement may be selected and played as the primary track/contentadvances.

In the latter case of a separate window (e.g., picture-in-picture), whena fast-forward operation is detected during an advertisement, analternative track may be invoked and played in one of thepicture-in-picture frames/windows as the user watches the silentadvancing advertisement content in another picture-in-pictureframe/window.

Further regarding display of an advertising banner overlay in someportion of the screen during normal viewing, a user may be presentedwith an option to watch an advertisement or to enable overlays insteadof watching advertisements interspersed between programing contentsegments. As such, the viewer may be given the option of viewingadvertising banner overlays or watching the advertisements in their fullformat.

Where a user has selected to utilize/watch advertising banner overlaysinstead of watching advertisements interspersed between programingcontent segments, if the user has not yet viewed a particularadvertisement that has been skipped, then content overlays that arerelevant to the skipped advertisements may be played for the viewer.

Advertising banner overlays may be configured and downloaded as agraphic image that may be overlaid at an appropriate time to displayadvertisements (e.g., a user is watching an event in real-time and theuser is subjected to a television network commercial interruption of theevent). Using the present technology, that user may instead opt intohave one or more advertisement graphic overlays displayed on part of thescreen instead of seeing the telecast advertisements, which may providethe opportunity to continue watching footage from the event. Anadvertisement graphic overlay may be either static or dynamic, and maybe downloaded to the viewing system and invoked at the appropriate time.Further, the advertisement graphic overlay may be displayed on thescreen for a time equal to the original advertisement or for a differingtime, as appropriate for the given implementation. Additionally, theadvertisement graphic overlay may be configured to occupy varying sizeson the viewing screen and may have varying degrees oftransparency/opacity, depending on the selected implementation. Suchalternatives may increase advertiser confidence that the respectiveadvertising message is being watched by the viewers, and may therebyincrease the value of the advertising investment.

Further regarding advertising points, different methods for viewing orinteracting with advertising may account for different numbers of“points.”

As an additional alternative for the present technology, fast forwardingof an advertisement may be configured to stop at the beginning of theregular program content. As such, a viewer may choose to fast-forwardthrough the advertisements subject to the incentives described above.The user's DVR may fast-forward the advertisements for the user and stopthe fast-forwarding of content at the beginning of the regular programcontent. The user may be incentivized, based upon such a feature, toagree to an alternative form of advertising, such as an advertisingbanner overlay or the transfer of the advertisement(s) to the mobiledevice, as described above.

It should be noted that conception of the present subject matterresulted from recognition of certain limitations associated withconsumer reception of advertising. For example, it was observed thatadvertisers conventionally determine when and how their advertising isdelivered to consumers (i.e., via television, radio, and otheradvertising media). As such, it was observed that many consumers opt toturn the volume down when advertising is being presented during livebroadcast viewing. Alternatively, it was observed that consumers thatutilize digital video recorders (DVRs) are able to fast-forward orskip-forward (e.g., in thirty-second or larger increments of time)through advertising commercials. It was further observed that advertiserrevenues decline as a result of consumer inattention to advertisements.It was further observed that consumers often are presented withcommercials that are not of interest to the respective consumers. Inview of these several observations, it was determined that newtechnology that both allows consumers to defer advertisements to a latertime or to a different delivery medium may improve consumer willingnessto view advertising (and accordingly may improve advertiser revenues).It was additionally determined that new technology that allows consumersto specify preferred advertising format and delivery methods may alsoimprove advertiser revenues by allowing consumers to become more engagedin the advertising process and ensuring that advertising investmentsreach target audiences. The present subject matter improves advertisingefficiency and revenues for advertisers, and improves information flowto consumers, by providing for consumer-configurable alternativeadvertising reception with incentives, as described above and in moredetail below. As such, improved consumer reception of advertising may beobtained through use of the present technology.

The consumer-configurable alternative advertising reception withincentives described herein may be performed in real time to allowprompt configuration of alternative forms of advertisement reception andincentives. For purposes of the present description, real time shallinclude any time frame of sufficiently short duration as to providereasonable response time for information processing acceptable to a userof the subject matter described. Additionally, the term “real time”shall include what is commonly termed “near real time”—generally meaningany time frame of sufficiently short duration as to provide reasonableresponse time for on-demand information processing acceptable to a userof the subject matter described (e.g., within a portion of a second orwithin a few seconds). These terms, while difficult to precisely defineare well understood by those skilled in the art.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example of an implementation of a system100 for consumer-configurable alternative advertising reception withincentives. A computing device_1 102 through a computing device_N 104and a television 106 communicate via a network 108 with a server 110.The server 110 generally represents a television content distributionsystem capable of distributing audio/video programming content (e.g., acable, satellite, or other television content programming system). Thenetwork 108 generally represents a cable, satellite, Internet, or otheraudio/video programming content distribution technology. The server 110also distributes advertising content for insertion into programing thatis distributed for reception by the television 106 and the computingdevice_1 102 through the computing device_N 104. Television programmingcontent and advertising content, along with configuration options foralternative advertising reception and advertising incentives, may bestored within a database 112. The television 106 may be any form oftelevision appropriate for a given implementation (e.g., an Internetprotocol television (IPTV), a high definition (HD) TV that receivestelevision content via cable or over-the-air reception, etc.).

As will be described in more detail below in association with FIG. 2through FIG. 4B, the server 110 and any of the computing device_1 102through the computing device_N 104 and television 106 may each provideautomated consumer-configurable alternative advertising reception withincentives. The automated consumer-configurable alternative advertisingreception with incentives is based upon advertising incentivescorrelated with alternative reception options for advertising content.As such, the present technology may be implemented at a user computingdevice or server device level. A variety of possibilities exist forimplementation of the present subject matter, and all such possibilitiesare considered within the scope of the present subject matter.

It should be noted that any of the respective computing devicesdescribed in association with FIG. 1 may be portable computing devices,either by a user's ability to move the respective computing devices todifferent locations, or by the respective computing device's associationwith a portable platform, such as a plane, train, automobile, or othermoving vehicle. It should also be noted that the respective computingdevices may be any computing devices capable of processing informationas described above and in more detail below. For example, the respectivecomputing devices may include devices such as a personal computer (e.g.,desktop, laptop, etc.) or a handheld device (e.g., cellular telephone,personal digital assistant (PDA), email device, music recording orplayback device, tablet computing device, e-book reading device, etc.),a television content and advertising server, a web server, applicationserver, or other data server device, or any other device capable ofprocessing information as described above and in more detail below.

The network 108 may include any form of interconnection suitable for theintended purpose, including a private or public network such as anintranet or the Internet, respectively, direct inter-moduleinterconnection, dial-up, wireless, or any other interconnectionmechanism capable of interconnecting the respective devices.

The database 112 may include a relational database, an object database,or any other storage type of device. As such, the database 112 may beimplemented as appropriate for a given implementation.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example of an implementation of a coreprocessing module 200 capable of performing consumer-configurablealternative advertising reception with incentives. The core processingmodule 200 may be associated with any of the computing device_1 102through the computing device_N 104, with the television 106, and/or withthe server 110, as appropriate for a given implementation. As such, thecore processing module 200 is described generally herein, though it isunderstood that many variations on implementation of the componentswithin the core processing module 200 are possible and all suchvariations are within the scope of the present subject matter.

Further, the core processing module 200 may provide different andcomplementary processing of advertising content and advertisingincentives in association with each implementation. As such, for any ofthe examples below, it is understood that any aspect of functionalitydescribed with respect to any one device that is described inconjunction with another device (e.g., sends/sending, etc.) is to beunderstood to concurrently describe the functionality of the otherrespective device (e.g., receives/receiving, etc.).

A central processing unit (CPU) 202 provides computer instructionexecution, computation, and other capabilities within the coreprocessing module 200. A display 204 provides visual information to auser of the core processing module 200 and an input device 206 providesinput capabilities for the user.

The display 204 may include any display device, such as a cathode raytube (CRT), liquid crystal display (LCD), light emitting diode (LED),electronic ink displays, projection, touchscreen, or other displayelement or panel. The input device 206 may include a computer keyboard,a keypad, a mouse, a pen, a joystick, touchscreen, an infrared inputdevice, or any other type of input device by which the user may interactwith and respond to information on the display 204.

A communication module 208 provides interconnection capabilities thatallow the core processing module 200 to communicate with other moduleswithin the system 100. The communication module 208 may include anyelectrical, protocol, and protocol conversion capabilities useable toprovide interconnection capabilities, appropriate for a givenimplementation.

A memory 210 includes an alternative advertising reception andadvertising incentive processing and storage area 212 that storesconfiguration options and calculations in association with the coreprocessing module 200. As will be described in more detail below,alternative advertising reception and advertising incentive processingoptions and results stored within the alternative advertising receptionand advertising incentive processing and storage area 212 are used toprovide bi-directional coupling of social networks and televisionadvertising technology (or other advertising technologies) withadvertising points accumulation, and provides several alternativeadvertising delivery/receipt transfer options for consumers of either“on-demand” advertising (e.g., digital video recorder (DVR) or web-basedadvertisements) or live broadcast advertising.

It is understood that the memory 210 may include any combination ofvolatile and non-volatile memory suitable for the intended purpose,distributed or localized as appropriate, and may include other memorysegments not illustrated within the present example for ease ofillustration purposes. For example, the memory 210 may include a codestorage area, an operating system storage area, a code execution area,and a data area without departure from the scope of the present subjectmatter.

An alternative advertising processing module 214 is also illustrated.The alternative advertising processing module 214 provides alternativeadvertising delivery/receipt transfer processing, advertising incentiveprocessing, and other processing capabilities for bi-directionalcoupling of social networks and television advertising technology inassociation with the core processing module 200, as described above andin more detail below. The alternative advertising processing module 214implements the automated consumer-configurable alternative advertisingreception with incentives of the core processing module 200.

It should also be noted that the alternative advertising processingmodule 214 may form a portion of other circuitry described withoutdeparture from the scope of the present subject matter. Further, thealternative advertising processing module 214 may alternatively beimplemented as an application stored within the memory 210. In such animplementation, the alternative advertising processing module 214 mayinclude instructions executed by the CPU 202 for performing thefunctionality described herein. The CPU 202 may execute theseinstructions to provide the processing capabilities described above andin more detail below for the core processing module 200. The alternativeadvertising processing module 214 may form a portion of an interruptservice routine (ISR), a portion of an operating system, a portion of abrowser application, or a portion of a separate application withoutdeparture from the scope of the present subject matter.

The database 112 is again shown within FIG. 2 associated with the coreprocessing module 200. As such, the database 112 may be operativelycoupled to the core processing module 200 without use of networkconnectivity, such as the network 108, as appropriate for a givenimplementation.

The CPU 202, the display 204, the input device 206, the communicationmodule 208, the memory 210, the alternative advertising processingmodule 214, and the database 112 are interconnected via aninterconnection 216. The interconnection 216 may include a system bus, anetwork, or any other interconnection capable of providing therespective components with suitable interconnection for the respectivepurpose.

Though the different modules illustrated within FIG. 2 are illustratedas component-level modules for ease of illustration and descriptionpurposes, it should be noted that these modules may include anyhardware, programmed processor(s), and memory used to carry out thefunctions of the respective modules as described above and in moredetail below. For example, the modules may include additional controllercircuitry in the form of application specific integrated circuits(ASICs), processors, antennas, and/or discrete integrated circuits andcomponents for performing communication and electrical controlactivities associated with the respective modules. Additionally, themodules may include interrupt-level, stack-level, and application-levelmodules as appropriate. Furthermore, the modules may include any memorycomponents used for storage, execution, and data processing forperforming processing activities associated with the respective modules.The modules may also form a portion of other circuitry described or maybe combined without departure from the scope of the present subjectmatter.

Additionally, while the core processing module 200 is illustrated withand has certain components described, other modules and components maybe associated with the core processing module 200 without departure fromthe scope of the present subject matter. Additionally, it should benoted that, while the core processing module 200 is described as asingle device for ease of illustration purposes, the components withinthe core processing module 200 may be co-located or distributed andinterconnected via a network without departure from the scope of thepresent subject matter. For a distributed arrangement, the display 204and the input device 206 may be located at a point of sale device,kiosk, or other location, while the CPU 202 and memory 210 may belocated at a local or remote server. Many other possible arrangementsfor components of the core processing module 200 are possible and allare considered within the scope of the present subject matter. It shouldalso be understood that, though the database 112 is illustrated as aseparate component for purposes of example, the information storedwithin the database 112 may also/alternatively be stored within thememory 210 without departure from the scope of the present subjectmatter. Accordingly, the core processing module 200 may take many formsand may be associated with many platforms.

FIG. 3 through FIG. 4B described below represent example processes thatmay be executed by devices, such as the core processing module 200, toperform the automated consumer-configurable alternative advertisingreception with incentives associated with the present subject matter.Many other variations on the example processes are possible and all areconsidered within the scope of the present subject matter. The exampleprocesses may be performed by modules, such as the alternativeadvertising processing module 214 and/or executed by the CPU 202,associated with such devices. It should be noted that time outprocedures and other error control procedures are not illustrated withinthe example processes described below for ease of illustration purposes.However, it is understood that all such procedures are considered to bewithin the scope of the present subject matter. Further, the describedprocesses may be combined, sequences of the processing described may bechanged, and additional processing may be added or removed withoutdeparture from the scope of the present subject matter.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of an example of an implementation of a process300 for consumer-configurable alternative advertising reception withincentives. At block 302, the process 300 detects, via a first contentviewing device, an indication from a user to transfer an advertisementdelivered to the first content viewing device as part of streamed audioand video (A/V) content to an alternative content viewing device. Atblock 304, the process 300 determines, based upon user-specificadvertising configuration information, whether the user is authorized toperform advertisement deferral during the streamed A/V content. At block306, the process 300 configures the advertisement as an incentivizeddeferred advertisement to be viewed by the user at a later time usingthe alternative content viewing device in response to determining thatthe user is authorized to perform advertisement deferral during thestreamed A/V content. At block 308, the process 300 transfers theconfigured incentivized deferred advertisement to the alternativecontent viewing device.

FIGS. 4A-4B illustrate a flow chart of an example of an implementationof process 400 for consumer-configurable alternative advertisingreception with incentives, including depleting discount incentives andadvertising appreciation discounts. FIG. 4A illustrates initialprocessing within the process 400. At decision point 402, the process400 makes a determination as to whether an indication to transfer anadvertisement has been detected. For example, the process 400 may detectan indication from a user via a first content viewing device to transferan advertisement delivered to the first content viewing device as partof streamed audio and video (A/V) content to an alternative contentviewing device. The first and alternative content viewing devices may betelevisions, tablets, smartphones, computers, or any other set ofcontent viewing devices.

In response to determining that an indication to transfer anadvertisement has been detected at decision point 402, the process 400determines a user identifier of the user and a device identifier of thefirst content viewing device associated with the requesting user atblock 404. At block 406, the process 400 queries an alternativeadvertising reception and advertising incentives database using thedetermined user identifier and device identifier of the first contentviewing device to identify the user-specific advertising configurationinformation. The user-specific advertising configuration information mayinclude accumulated advertising incentive points. The accumulatedadvertising incentive points may be accumulated from other advertisementviewing and may be collected by viewing extended advertisements, takingquizzes, viewing an advertisement a configured number of times, orotherwise as described above and as appropriate for a givenimplementation.

At decision point 408, the process 400 makes a determination as towhether sufficient advertising incentive points have been accumulated bythe user to allow deferral and transfer of the advertisement. As such,based upon the query to the alternative advertising reception andadvertising incentives database, the process 400 may determine whetherthe identified user-specific advertising configuration informationincludes sufficient accumulated advertising incentive points to allowdeferral of the advertisement delivered to the first content viewingdevice and transfer of the deferred advertisement to the alternativecontent viewing device. The process 400 may accordingly determine, basedupon user-specific advertising configuration information, whether theuser is authorized to perform advertisement deferral during streamed A/Vcontent and may process the advertisement transfer request accordingly.An affirmative determination at decision point 408 will be described inmore detail further below.

As such, in response to determining that sufficient accumulatedadvertising incentive points have not been accumulated to allow deferraland transfer of the advertisement, the process 400 displays theadvertisement on the first content viewing device at block 410. At block412, the process 400 sends an indication of advertising incentive pointsearned by the user, based upon the viewing of the advertisement, to thealternative advertising reception and advertising incentives database.These earned advertising incentive points may be accumulated by thealternative advertising reception and advertising incentives databaseand utilized by the user for future advertising deferral and transferopportunities.

Returning to the description of decision point 408, in response todetermining that sufficient accumulated advertising incentive pointshave been accumulated to allow deferral and transfer of theadvertisement, the process 400 assigns a depleting discount advertisingincentive point value to configure the advertisement for deferral as anincentivized deferred advertisement at block 414. As described above,the user may view the configured incentivized deferred advertisementthat is transferred to the alternative content viewing device sooner toobtain the most accumulated advertising incentive points, and may obtainfewer advertising incentive points for viewing the advertisement at alater time.

At decision point 416, the process 400 makes a determination as towhether the current/first content viewing device to which theadvertisement is initially delivered is a television. In response todetermining that the current/first content viewing device to which theadvertisement is initially delivered is a television, the process 400transfers the configured incentivized deferred advertisement to analternative content viewing device with an instruction to report viewingof the advertisement by the user at block 418. Alternatively, inresponse to determining at decision point 416 that the current/firstcontent viewing device to which the advertisement is initially deliveredis not a television, the process 400 transfers the configuredincentivized deferred advertisement to a television with an instructionto report viewing of the advertisement by the user at block 420.

As such, the process 400 may determine at decision point 416 that theadvertisement is a television advertisement presented by a televisioncontent broadcaster. Additionally, the process 400 may determine atdecision point 416 that the alternative content viewing device is anetworked computing device with access to a social networking website.Within this context, the process 400 may determine at decision point 416that the user is actively viewing the audio and video (A/V) content viathe television, and may detect an indication to transfer theadvertisement to one or more other content viewing devices utilized bythe user.

Alternatively, the process 400 may determine at decision point 416 thatthe advertisement is an online advertisement presented by a socialnetwork website. Additionally, the process 400 may determine at decisionpoint 416 that the alternative content viewing device is a television.Within this context, the process 400 may determine at decision point 416that the user is actively viewing the A/V content via the social networkwebsite using the first content viewing device, and may detect anindication from the user via the social network website to transfer theonline advertisement to the television.

In response to transferring the configured incentivized deferredadvertisement to the alternative content viewing device at block 418, orin response to transferring the configured incentivized deferredadvertisement to the television at block 420, the process 400transitions to the processing shown and described in association withFIG. 4B.

FIG. 4B illustrates additional processing associated with the process400 for consumer-configurable alternative advertising reception withincentives, including depleting discount incentives and advertisingappreciation discounts. At decision point 422, the process 400 makes adetermination as to whether a deferred advertisement viewing event bythe user on the alternative content viewing device has occurred. Asdescribed above, the advertisement as transferred may be configured witha reporting instruction to cause the alternative content viewing deviceto report advertisement viewing back to the original content viewingdevice that transferred the advertisement. This form of processing maydecrease distributed processing coordination and allow the originalcontent viewing device to track/monitor deferred viewing. Alternatively,the alternative content viewing device may track the deferred viewing ofthe advertisement and update the alternative advertising reception andadvertising incentives database, as appropriate for the givenimplementation.

In response to determining at decision point 422 that a deferredadvertisement viewing event on the alternative content viewing devicehas not occurred, the process 400 makes a determination at decisionpoint 424 as to whether to deplete a discount associated with adepleting discount advertising incentive point value in view of a lapseof time since transfer of the advertisement to the alternative contentviewing device. In response to determining not to deplete a discountassociated with a depleting discount advertising incentive point valuein view of a lapse of time since transfer of the advertisement to thealternative content viewing device, the process 400 returns to decisionpoint 422 and iterates as described above.

Alternatively, in response to determining at decision point 424 todeplete a discount associated with a depleting discount advertisingincentive point value in view of a lapse of time since transfer of theadvertisement to the alternative content viewing device, the process 400diminishes the depleting discount advertising incentive point value by aconfigured increment at block 426. As such, the process 400 may diminishthe depleting discount advertising incentive point value over aconfigured incentive time period to incentivize the user to view theconfigured incentivized deferred advertisement during the configuredincentive time period. The processing to diminish the depleting discountadvertising incentive point value over time may include transmitting thediminished depleting discount advertising incentive point value to thealternative advertising reception and advertising incentives database,where the diminished depleting discount advertising incentive pointvalue may be updated within the user-specific advertising configurationinformation. The process 400 returns to decision point 422 and iteratesas described above.

Returning to the description of decision point 422, in response todetermining that a deferred advertisement viewing event by the user onthe alternative content viewing device has occurred, the process 400vests the remaining discount advertising incentive points in the user(e.g., the overage remaining after any applicable discount depletions)at block 428. The processing to vest the remaining discount advertisingincentive points in the user may include transmitting the vestedremaining discount advertising incentive points to the alternativeadvertising reception and advertising incentives database, where thevested remaining discount advertising incentive points may be updatedwithin the user-specific advertising configuration information.

At decision point 430, the process 400 makes a determination as towhether an indication from the user has been detected via the television(or other content viewing device) to transfer the advertisement to asocial networking website. Processing associated with a negativedetermination at decision point 430 will be described in detail furtherbelow. It should also be noted that the process 400 is represented toprovide one opportunity to transfer the advertisement to a socialnetworking website for ease of illustration and description purposes.However, the processing at decision point 430 may be performed more thanonce as appropriate for a given implementation.

In response to determining at decision point 430 that an indication fromthe user has been detected via the television (or other content viewingdevice) to transfer the advertisement to a social networking website,the process 400 transfers the deferred advertisement to the designatedsocial networking website for promotion to social network contacts ofthe user at block 432. At block 434, the process 400 assigns anincreasing value advertising appreciation discount coupon to theuser-specific advertising configuration information associated with theuser.

As described in more detail below, the assigned increasing valueadvertising appreciation discount coupon may increase in value to theuser that transferred the advertisement to the social networking websitein response to each social network contact that views the deferredconfigured advertisement either within the social networking website oras a further deferred advertisement on another content viewing deviceused by the respective social networking contact.

At decision point 436, in response to assigning an increasing valueadvertising appreciation discount coupon to the user-specificadvertising configuration information associated with the user at block434, the process 400 makes a determination as to whether the user hasindicated via the television (or other content viewing device) that theuser “likes” a respective good and/or service associated with thetransferred advertisement. In response to determining that the user hasindicated via the television (or other content viewing device) that theuser “likes” the respective good and/or service associated with thetransferred advertisement, the process 400 propagates, as a posting ontothe social networking website to social network contacts of the user,the indication that the user likes the respective good and/or serviceassociated with the advertisement at block 438.

In response to propagating the indication that the user likes therespective good and/or service associated with the transferredadvertisement at block 438, or in response to determining at decisionpoint 436 that the user has not indicated via the television (or othercontent viewing device) that the user “likes” a respective good and/orservice associated with the transferred advertisement, the process 400makes a determination at decision point 440 as to whether a socialnetwork contact of the user has viewed the advertisement transferred tothe social network website by the user (e.g., a social contact“viewing”).

In response to determining that a social network contact of the user hasviewed the advertisement transferred to the social network website bythe user, the process 400 increases the increasing value advertisingappreciation discount coupon by a configured increment at block 442. Assuch, the process 400 may increase the increasing value advertisingappreciation discount coupon by a configured increment in response toeach social network contact that views the deferred configuredadvertisement either within the social networking website or as afurther deferred advertisement on another content viewing device used bythe respective social networking contact. The processing to increase theincreasing value advertising appreciation discount coupon by aconfigured increment may include transmitting the increase of theincreasing value advertising appreciation discount coupon to thealternative advertising reception and advertising incentives database,where the increase of the increasing value advertising appreciationdiscount coupon may be updated within the user-specific advertisingconfiguration information.

In response to determining at decision point 440 that a social networkcontact of the user has not viewed the advertisement transferred to thesocial network website by the user, or in response to determining atdecision point 430 that an indication from the user has not beendetected via the television (or other content viewing device) totransfer the advertisement to an alternative content viewing device thatis currently connected to a social networking website, or in response toincreasing the increasing value advertising appreciation discount couponby a configured increment at block 442, the process 400 makes adetermination at decision point 444 as to whether processing iscompleted. In response to determining that processing is not completed,the process 400 returns to decision point 440 and iterates as describedabove. In response to determining, at decision point 444, thatprocessing has been completed, the process 400 returns to the processingdescribed in association with FIG. 4A at decision point 402. The process400 iterates as described above.

As such, the process 400 processes advertisement transfer requestsbetween televisions and alternative content viewing devices at therequest of users. User authorization to transfer advertisements to othercontent viewing devices may be performed based upon advertising pointaccumulation that may be derived by viewing a certain number ofadvertisements, viewing deferred advertisements within a configuredperiod of time, and other factors as appropriate for a givenimplementation. The process 400 may also transfer advertisements betweena television or other content viewing device, and a social networkwebsite. The process 400 may propagate/promote user “like” indicationsto the social network website, and the user may obtain advertisingincentive points for social network contacts that view or interact withthe transferred advertisement. The process 400 increases increasingvalue advertising appreciation discount coupons, diminishes depletingdiscount advertising incentive point values, and vests advertisingincentives in users that transfer advertisements over time.

As described above in association with FIG. 1 through FIG. 4B, theexample systems and processes provide consumer-configurable alternativeadvertising reception with incentives. Many other variations andadditional activities associated with consumer-configurable alternativeadvertising reception with incentives are possible and all areconsidered within the scope of the present subject matter.

Those skilled in the art will recognize, upon consideration of the aboveteachings, that certain of the above examples are based upon use of aprogrammed processor, such as the CPU 202. However, the invention is notlimited to such example embodiments, since other embodiments could beimplemented using hardware component equivalents such as special purposehardware and/or dedicated processors. Similarly, general purposecomputers, microprocessor based computers, micro-controllers, opticalcomputers, analog computers, dedicated processors, application specificcircuits and/or dedicated hard wired logic may be used to constructalternative equivalent embodiments.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentinvention may be embodied as a system, method or computer programproduct. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the formof an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or anembodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may allgenerally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.”Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of acomputer program product embodied in one or more computer readablemedium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.

Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may beutilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signalmedium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readablestorage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic,magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system,apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Morespecific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readablestorage medium would include the following: an electrical connectionhaving one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, arandom access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, amagnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium maybe any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use byor in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, ordevice.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium thatis not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless,wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination ofthe foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of thepresent invention may be written in any combination of one or moreprogramming languages, including an object oriented programming languagesuch as JAVA™, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional proceduralprogramming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similarprogramming languages. The program code may execute entirely on theuser's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alonesoftware package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remotecomputer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latterscenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computerthrough any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or awide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an externalcomputer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet ServiceProvider).

Aspects of the present invention have been described with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable storage medium that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablestorage medium produce an article of manufacture including instructionswhich implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer,other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to causea series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, otherprogrammable apparatus or other devices to produce a computerimplemented process such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer or other programmable apparatus provide processes forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be notedthat, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in theblock may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be notedthat each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, andcombinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedsystems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions.

A data processing system suitable for storing and/or executing programcode will include at least one processor coupled directly or indirectlyto memory elements through a system bus. The memory elements can includelocal memory employed during actual execution of the program code, bulkstorage, and cache memories which provide temporary storage of at leastsome program code in order to reduce the number of times code must beretrieved from bulk storage during execution.

Input/output or I/O devices (including but not limited to keyboards,displays, pointing devices, etc.) can be coupled to the system eitherdirectly or through intervening I/O controllers.

Network adapters may also be coupled to the system to enable the dataprocessing system to become coupled to other data processing systems orremote printers or storage devices through intervening private or publicnetworks. Modems, cable modems and Ethernet cards are just a few of thecurrently available types of network adapters.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of the present invention has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and the practical application, and to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: by a processor:transforming, at a first content viewing device, an originaladvertisement into a transferrable incentivized deferred advertisementthat itself comprises, as added encoded data elements, (i) a configuredincentive, (ii) a configured incentive time period within which toobtain the configured incentive, and (iii) a reporting instruction thatcauses an alternative content viewing device to report advertisementviewing back to the first content viewing device; and transferring thetransferrable incentivized deferred advertisement, that comprises theadded encoded data elements, to the alternative content viewing device.2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the processor: sendingdirect real-time feedback to an entity from which the originaladvertisement was received that the transferrable incentivized deferredadvertisement has been transferred to the alternative content viewingdevice; determining a user identifier of a user of the first contentviewing device and a device identifier of the first content viewingdevice; querying an alternative advertising reception and advertisingincentives database, using the determined user identifier and deviceidentifier, to identify user-specific advertising configurationinformation; and determining whether the identified user-specificadvertising configuration information in the alternative advertisingreception and advertising incentives database comprises accumulatedadvertising incentive points accumulated from other advertisementviewing sufficient to allow deferral of the original advertisement andthe transfer of the transferrable incentivized deferred advertisement tothe alternative content viewing device.
 3. The method of claim 1, wheretransforming, at the first content viewing device, the originaladvertisement into the transferrable incentivized deferred advertisementcomprises the processor: assigning a depleting discount advertisingincentive point value to the transferrable incentivized deferredadvertisement; and diminishing the depleting discount advertisingincentive point value over time during the configured incentive timeperiod to incentivize a user of the first content viewing device to viewthe transferrable incentivized deferred advertisement during theconfigured incentive time period.
 4. The method of claim 1, where: theoriginal advertisement comprises an original online advertisementpresented by a social network website; the alternative content viewingdevice comprises a television; and further comprising the processor:determining that a user is actively viewing audio and video (A/V)content via the social network website using the first content viewingdevice; and detecting an indication from the user via the social networkwebsite to transfer the original online advertisement to the television;and where transferring the transferrable incentivized deferredadvertisement, that comprises the added encoded data elements, to thealternative content viewing device comprises the processor: overlayingthe transferrable incentivized deferred advertisement onto the A/Vcontent being viewed via the social network website; and transferringthe A/V content being viewed via the social network website with theoverlaid transferrable incentivized deferred advertisement to thetelevision as part of bi-directional advertisement and content sharingbetween social networks and television advertising technology.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, where: the first content viewing device comprises atelevision; the original advertisement comprises an original televisionadvertisement presented by a television content broadcaster; thealternative content viewing device comprises a networked computingdevice with access to a social networking website; and furthercomprising the processor: determining that a user of the television isactively viewing audio and video (A/V) content via the television; anddetecting an indication from the user via the television to transfer theoriginal television advertisement to the social networking website; andwhere transferring the transferrable incentivized deferredadvertisement, that comprises the added encoded data elements, to thealternative content viewing device comprises the processor: overlayingone of an audio and a video message that plays as the transferrableincentivized deferred advertisement is fast-forwarded; and transferringthe transferrable incentivized deferred advertisement with the overlaidone of the audio and the video message that plays as the transferrableincentivized deferred advertisement is fast-forwarded to the socialnetworking website as part of bi-directional advertisement and contentsharing between social networks and television advertising technology.6. The method of claim 5, further comprising the processor: detecting anindication from the user via the television that the user likes one of agood and a service associated with the original televisionadvertisement; and propagating, as part of the bi-directionaladvertisement and content sharing between social networks and televisionadvertising technology, the indication that the user likes the one ofthe good and the service associated with the original televisionadvertisement as a posting onto the social networking website to socialnetwork contacts of the user.
 7. The method of claim 5, furthercomprising the processor: assigning an increasing value advertisingappreciation discount coupon to user-specific advertising configurationinformation associated with the user; and increasing the increasingvalue advertising appreciation discount coupon in response to eachsocial network contact that views the transferrable incentivizeddeferred advertisement either within the social networking website or asa further deferred advertisement on another content viewing device usedby the respective social networking contact.
 8. The method of claim 1,where the original advertisement comprises an interactive advertisementand the transferrable incentivized deferred advertisement comprises atransferrable incentivized deferred interactive advertisement thatfacilitates, as configured, delayed interaction with interactiveadvertising content, and further comprising the processor: detecting aninteraction by a user of the first content viewing device with thetransferrable incentivized deferred interactive advertisement at a timeafter the transfer and within the configured incentive time period. 9.The method of claim 1, where transforming the original advertisementinto the transferrable incentivized deferred advertisement furthercomprises the processor: substituting, in place of the originaladvertisement within the transferrable incentivized deferredadvertisement, an alternative audio and video (A/V) advertisementoptimized for advanced-speed rendering that further comprises one of anaudio and a video message that plays as the transferrable incentivizeddeferred advertisement is fast-forwarded.
 10. The method of claim 1,further comprising the processor: determining that a user of the firstcontent viewing device has opted to have advertisements interspersedthroughout a program rather than viewing the advertisements in asequence from beginning to end; and where the processor transforming theoriginal advertisement into the transferrable incentivized deferredadvertisement comprises the processor transforming the transferrableincentivized deferred advertisement into a set of interactive quizzescapable of being interspersed between programming content segmentsthroughout the program.